MONTGOMERY, Ala. --- The Tennessee State volleyball team remained perfect for the 2016 season, winning both matches on Saturday at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome to cap the ISTAP Collegiate Cup 1 with a 4-0 record. Saturday’s action included a 3-0 sweep of Alabama A&M in the morning and a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Alabama State in the night cap.

Chloe Watson (Kent, Wash.) paced the offense for the second day in a row with 32 kills to go with 79 assists from Puamana Danielson (Ewa Beach, Hawai’i) and 32 digs from Cherlie Adorno-DeJesus (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico).

MATCH #1: Tennessee State 3, Alabama A&M 0 (25-13, 25-7, 25-7) TSU began the day with a 3-0 victory over Alabama A&M, winning by scores of 25-13, 25-7 and 25-7 to improve to 3-0 on the young season. In a match that lasted 58 minutes, Watson posted a team-best 12 kills to go with 24 assists from Danielson.

The Tigers scored the first three points of the first set and never looked back on their way to a 25-13 win. The lead quickly grew to double-digits with the Tigers in front by as many as 14 points at 24-10. Five different TSU players recorded multiple kills in the first set.

The Tigers held a comfortable 12-4 lead in the second set before executing a 13-3 run to close out the set for a 25-7 victory. Curstyn Wilson (Allen, Texas) secured three service aces in the second set to help the cause.

Another dominating performance in the third set was highlighted by the Tigers reeling off 10 points in a row to balloon the lead from 8-3 to 18-3. TSU kept its distance from the Bulldogs the rest of the way in a 25-7 win.

MATCH #2: Tennessee State 3, Alabama State 2 (25-19, 23-25, 21-25, 25-22, 15-7)The two sides went back-and-forth in the early going with neither team leading by more than three points. An Alabama State attack error gave the Tigers a 21-15 edge for the largest lead for either side until the end of the set.

TSU scored the final two points of the set, which ended on a Julia Pierson (Rowlett, Texas) kill for a 25-19 win.

In the second set, TSU trailed by as many as three points on two occasions, 14-11 and 18-15. The Tigers battled back and leveled the score at 19-19 later in the set, eventually taking the lead at 23-22. The final three points of the set went to the Lady Hornets, however, as the home side leveled the score at 1-1 with a 25-23 second-set victory.

Following the intermission, Alabama State gained the upper hand with an 8-4 advantage. The Lady Hornets led from start to finish, taking the third set by a 25-21 final score for a 2-1 lead.

The Tigers regained their footing after a slow start in the fourth set. TSU’s five-point lead at 19-14 was the largest for either side in the set. The Lady Hornets would trim their deficit down to 20-19, but back-to-back Watson kills gave the momentum back to the Tigers. TSU picked up the final two points on an ASU attack error and a Pierson kill for a 25-22 win to force a fifth set.

TSU scored the first four points of the fifth set and never looked back in a 15-7 win. Holding a 12-7 lead, Taylor Patterson (New Castle, Ind.) picked up a kill and ASU had two attack errors to close the match.

UP NEXT Tennessee State will travel to Manhattan, Kan. to compete in the K-State Invitational on Sept. 2-3. The Tigers will square off with Georgia Tech Friday followed by Kansas State and Michigan on Saturday.

Tennessee State Setter Puamana Danielson “It’s a good feeling. It means a lot, especially for a new team like us. We know what we can do and what we need to work on to be more successful. This was a place for us to see where we’re at and I feel like we’ll learn from this weekend moving forward. We’ll be ready for next weekend.” - On what it means to be 4-0

“I think the connections with the outsides and our defense really helped us. Our serve-receive game was really good all four matches, in my opinion. We’re still working on connectivity, but our hitter-setter connection is going in the right direction.” - On what worked on the day